Rainy Days

From the Cascades we cruised an hour or so and hit the coast, where we squeezed into a busy Saturday night at a state park right on the beach. It was nice to be back by the sea after a few months inlamd. The next morning we drove a few miles and explored Bellingham town before checking in to Deception Pass State Park.

I think for the first time this trip we set an alarm, so we could make an early morning ferry over to the San Juan Islands. Rather than take Elvis we took the bikes, although the island was a little larger and more hilly than we expected! Nevertheless we eventually made it back to the port after visiting English Camp, a somewhat idyllic posting, and spending a few hours ocean scanning for Orcas. We didn't get back to the mainland until late so grabbed a quick pizza, but were surprised the camp site barriers were down so had to find alternate lodging.

The following day we felt Elvis was missing out so we took him on a ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula, which is probably the wettest place in North America. We stopped off at Heart O' The Hills Campsite and, despite being in the middle of a rainforest, had a beautiful evening. The next morning we drove up to the visitors centre and had a fantastic talk by one of the old but massively enthusiastic rangers, and watched the rise and fall of clouds rising (Reggie Perrin anyone?) in the valleys below.

After a quick cup of clam chowder we boarded yet another boat, this time a whale spotting vessel. Even before we got onboard there was a harbour seal watching us, and within a few minutes of being out on the water we'd found a humpback (FYI in this area their numbers are back to pre-whaling times). It was pretty inquisitive and played around with the boat for a while, at one point almost scraping the barnacles off his back on the bottom of the boat! Just off the Canadian shore we located a family of killer whales and we spent the next hour or so watching them hunt, with the adults tiring out their prey and then teaching the youngsters to finish off their kills. Although the boats have to stay a fair distance away they were also pretty interested in us and came fairly close so we had a great viewing experience. We wrapped off the day with an AMAZING Thai meal - easily the best we've had in the US.

The following day we continued around the peninsula to Sol Doc Hot Springs. We had a varied day of weather (alternating between heavy drizzle and light rain!) but once in the 40C water it didn't make much difference.Read more